Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 240

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 240 FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 240: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870

2010

Why buy it

✅Measures 1mm instead of 168mm, a 167mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 512 MB vs 2 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌2010 hardware with 512 MB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌
118.6% HIGHER MSRP
$129 MSRPvs$59 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 4.2 vs 9.5 G3D/$ ($129 MSRP vs $59 MSRP).
❌66.7% higher power demand at 50W vs 30W.

Radeon R5 240

2013

Why buy it

✅Costs $70 less on MSRP ($59 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
✅Delivers 122.6% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 9.5 vs 4.2 G3D/$ ($59 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
✅300% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (2 GB vs 512 MB).
✅Draws 30W instead of 50W, a 20W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌2013 hardware with 2 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
❌16700% longer card at 168mm vs 1mm.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?

Radeon R5 240 is the faster gaming card right now based on the synthetic data we have. It leads by 1.8% in PassMark G3D (558 vs 548), which is the best performance signal available in this matchup.

Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond because it comes out ahead on the available hardware-headroom signals for this matchup.

Which GPU is the better buy today?

Radeon R5 240 makes the most sense to buy today. It is $70 cheaper on MSRP at $59 vs $129, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 122.6% (9.5 vs 4.2), so the value case lines up with the gaming result. If you are mainly targeting 1080p and some 1440p, Radeon R5 240 is the easier value choice. If you care more about 1080p and some 1440p headroom, Mobility Radeon HD 3870 has the stronger long-term case.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870 vs Radeon R5 240 Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

Mobility Radeon HD 3870

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in January 7 2010. It features the TeraScale 2 architecture. The core clock speed is 700 MHz. It has 800 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 50W. Manufactured using 40 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 548 points.

Radeon R5 240

The Radeon R5 240 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 8 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 780 MHz. It has 320 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 30W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 558 points. Launch price was $69.

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Graphics Performance

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 scores 548 and the Radeon R5 240 reaches 558 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1.8% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 is built on TeraScale 2 while the Radeon R5 240 uses GCN 1.0, both on 40 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 800 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 320 (Radeon R5 240). Raw compute: 1.12 TFLOPS (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 0.448 TFLOPS (Radeon R5 240).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
G3D Mark Score	548	558+2%
Architecture	TeraScale 2	GCN 1.0
Process Node	40 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	800+150%	320
Compute (TFLOPS)	1.12 TFLOPS+150%	0.448 TFLOPS
ROPs	16+100%	8
TMUs	40+100%	20
L1 Cache	80 KB	80 KB
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB
Frame Generation	FSR upscaling	FSR upscaling

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Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
Upscaling Tech	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4	FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	AMD Anti-Lag	AMD Anti-Lag

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Video Memory (VRAM)

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 has 512 MB of VRAM, while the Radeon R5 240 carries 2 GB. Radeon R5 240 gives you 300% more memory capacity, which matters more once you move into heavier textures, mods, or higher resolutions. Memory bus width is 128-bit on the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 and 128-bit on the Radeon R5 240.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
VRAM Capacity	0.5 GB	2 GB+300%
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth	Unknown	Unknown
Bus Width	128-bit	128-bit
L2 Cache	256 KB	256 KB

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 10.1 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 12_0 (Radeon R5 240). Maximum simultaneous displays: 0 vs 2.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
DirectX	10.1	12_0+19%
Max Displays	0	2

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Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: UVD (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon R5 240). Decoder: UVD vs UVD 3.1.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
Encoder	UVD	VCE 1.0
Decoder	UVD	UVD 3.1

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Power & Dimensions

The Mobility Radeon HD 3870 draws 50W versus the Radeon R5 240's 30W — a 50% difference. The Radeon R5 240 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 250W (Radeon R5 240). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs None. Card length: 1mm vs 168mm, occupying 0 vs 1 slots.

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
TDP	50W	30W-40%
Recommended PSU	350W	250W-29%
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	None
Length	1mm	168mm
Slots	0-100%	1
Perf/Watt	11.0	18.6+69%

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Value Analysis

At launch, the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 came in at $129, while the Radeon R5 240 launched at $59. On MSRP, Radeon R5 240 was 54.3% cheaper ($70 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 4.2 (Mobility Radeon HD 3870) vs 9.5 (Radeon R5 240) — the Radeon R5 240 offers 126.2% better value. The newer card here is Radeon R5 240 (2013 vs 2010).

Feature	Mobility Radeon HD 3870	Radeon R5 240
MSRP	$129	$59-54%
Performance per Dollar	4.2	9.5+126%
Codename	Broadway	Oland
Release	January 7 2010	October 8 2013
Ranking	#846	#911

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